The big thing that should always be mentioned, and it's my main gripe against the S&T book, is that it should be noted that you don't need to follow every component of the S&T pattern in order for it to help your own ballstriking. You can do very well just adding one or a few of the S&T components.
And like I stated in my book review, I fully believe that all of the S&T components are 'correct' and if you execute them like they want, you will get into better alignments and likely hit very good shots.
The big question is whether or not you can repeat those components consistently.
If Jack Nicklaus tried to use the inside hand path, he would likely never be known as the great Jack Nicklaus. But he did have a very 'centered' pivot and turned the left shoulder downward on the backswing. There's almost countless other examples of golf's greats who had some components of the S&T, but also avoided other components of the S&T in part because they probably could not repeat those consistently.
That's really what the golfer needs to get from the book because there's a decent chance that all of the components may not be easily repeated.
For me, my main goals with my swing for now are:
1. Square Up The Clubface At The Top of the Swing (P4)
2. Stop Getting Above the Plane on the downswing.
3. Stop releasing the #3 Power Accumulator too early and out of sequence. (Supposed to go 4-1-2-3)
The one part of S&T that I really like is the lower body action. Most people see the weight on the left side, which I think is alright. But the left knee I think is a more important component than any. The thing about the weight on the left side is that the goal of that is to get 90% of the weight on the left leg at impact. And I think most swing experts agree, be it TGM or SliceFixer or Sevam1 or Shawn Clement, etc that about 90% of the weight should be on the left side at impact.
However, I feel getting the weight on the left side to start with helps the golfer keep the left leg flexed longer throughout the swing. And that's a big part of what I'm working on. Take a look at some of the all time great ballstrikers' left leg flex thru impact.
My thoughts concur with the book that golfers tend to straighten out their left leg too soon and that usually causes golfers to get above the plane on the downswing. Why?
Because once that left leg straightens the hips start to turn and that turning of the hips starts to get the right shoulder off plane which gets the club above the plane.
The reason why getting the weight on the left side at address helps with keeping the knee flexed is because the left knee will flex in the backswing no matter what you do. But if you have the weight on the left foot is becomes a little more difficult to push the leg upward so it straightens. Instead it will stay flexed.
It should be noted that the S&T really doesn't have that much of an 'active' hip slide. According to the book the golfer more or less 'leans' into his left leg on the downswing which helps slide the hips a certain amount.
Anyway, here's some recent swings.
3JACK
6 comments:
How do you like the new swing?
Looks a lot different. Hows ball control?
Still a work in progress. When I do it well, the results are pretty nice and there's a little more power and it's easy to balance yourself. It's tough to lunge and steer if done reasonably right. There's more things I want to work on, particuarly the head and neck movement on the swing. I've got some ideas on how to attack those, but need to talk to some people I can trust about it.
Rich, you know what I think it looks like your best swings to date. If you are going to go down that S&T path, I think you will have to get rid of the set up with your right forearm on the shaft line. Adds too much axis tilt in.
Lots of options...
Paul Hart LOVES S&T "hitting" with the right forearm on plane. Using pieces that fit you works well with the little yellow book!
Kevin
Hopefully I have figured out one of my problems with the help of a S&T pro. I will post what I'm talking today.
Moe Norman was one of the best ball strikers that ever lived. Even better he knew how to control his mind. There are zillions of ways to hit a golf ball and for that reason, the golf swing is far overlooked. Learning how to think on a golf course is far more important than learning about all the hinge actions on the left wrist. Yes, I have started to read The Golfing Machine and there is nothing wrong with gaining as much knowledge about the game as you possible can, but don't forget that the decisions you make before you pull the trigger usually have a greater impact on the overall score of your golf round. Moe Norman explains what lacks in the game today and how players can instantly improve their golf games in this fireside chat video.
Post a Comment